OUR VIEW: Reflecting on Independence Day

Tuesday

Jul 4, 2017 at 12:26 AMJul 4, 2017 at 12:26 AM

If the past is prologue, as it often is, then the signs of the Independence Day holiday will have already been with us for some time before today. In the run-up to the Fourth of July, people will undoubtedly break out their bunting, unfurl their flags, and bedeck their belongings in all manner of red, white and blue. Barbecues will be fired up, parades will be held, and politicians will, with any luck, take a break from pontificating along partisan lines and instead speak to what binds us together rather than what separates us.

But somewhere between the almost unconscious patriotism and the deep symbolic resonance of the date, we must all remember the factual elements that underscore the day’s importance.

On July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress formally voted on independence from England, although it would be two more days before it adopted the Declaration of Independence. Some, including future President John Adams, maintained that the second, rather than the fourth, was the rightful day of celebration, but then and now, it was impossible to reverse popular sentiment.

Massachusetts actually played an important role in the codification of the holiday. In 1781, it became the first state to declare it an official state holiday, although Philadelphia boasts the first official celebration, which took place on July 4, 1777. Congress, which is seldom accused of rushing into anything, did not get around to making it a federal holiday until 1870. Early celebrations often featured fires rather than flags, with bonfire competitions in particular a favorite. Communities often vied for bragging rights as to who could host the largest conflagration.

Speaking of conflagrations, by the late 1700s, the divide between the nascent Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties had grown to such a heated pitch that the two groups would often hold competing celebrations in the same city, as if each were trying to lay claim to being the more patriotic entity.

We are indeed fortunate to have advanced so far in the ensuing centuries.

But in a sense, the holiday has always been an exercise in contrasts, for although it may have been the colonists’ Declaration of Independence, it was just as much a declaration of war. While those on this side of the Atlantic saw themselves as freedom fighters asserting their rights to self determination, the British by and large saw the colonists as insurgents, hell bent on undermining an empire on which the sun would never set.

Even after the country achieved its unlikely victory, it remained unclear whether the fledgling nation would long endure. Indeed, less than 90 years into its existence, the country was wracked by the Civil War, which came close to ripping the United States asunder. And although those wounds have largely healed, other fissures have appeared over the years, further testing this country’s resolve.

There are many who say that we have now reached a similar precipice; a time of deep division about not only what we believe in as a people, but also what it is that makes us citizens of the United States of America. The very concepts of patriotism and democracy have not been absolutes for a long time, but those core beliefs seem to now be up for rancorous, polarizing debate rather than honest discussion. Instead of seeking consensus, we too often opt to scream at each other across the ends of the political spectrum.

Although debate is healthy, hyperbole and hate are not. The conversation about what it means to be an American that began in 1776 may be more heated than ever in 2017. But for one day, perhaps, we can put aside our differences, confine the fireworks to skies above us, and seek a more perfect union where we celebrate our co-dependence on one another.

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